Falling away
by FeatheredShadows
Summary: Annabeth's thoughts during the fall into Tartarus. Together. They were falling. Facing inevitable death. Percabeth.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**

 **Just a small oneshot I wrote during the summer. Hope you enjoy.**

Together.

They were together. That was all that mattered. Tears were torn from her eyes as they plummeted down, down, down. She curled her fists into his shirt. He wasn't getting away from her. Never again. After all they had been through, this was it. The end. But that didn't matter. Nothing did. As long as they were together.

Together.

Falling.

She hugged him closer. They had been falling for minutes. Or maybe it was hours. Or days. Or weeks. Or months. Heck, it could have been years. The point was, she didn't know. All she knew was that she was falling with her soulmate, and that it was her fault that they were falling away from the world. Away from their lives. Their friends. Their family. Away from light. And into literal hell itself. Falling.

Falling.

Falling.

Inevitable.

There was nothing she could do. Nothing she could do to stop their downward spiral. It was all her fault. If she had only been faster. She had signed his death warrant the second she embarked on that crazy solo death quest. She shouldn't be thinking that way, but she had enough of an understanding of science to know that if they hit the ground at terminal velocity, it would be, well, terminal. After all they had been through... all they had survived. They were as good as dead.

Inevitable.

Death.

As they fell through the dark, she thought about everything they had been through together. Everything leading up to now. They were going to Hades the hard way. She remembered being in school - maybe 6 years old - learning about the four stages of a story. You had the beginning, where the characters, settings, plot etc. Areu introduced. Then there's the build up - the problems/disputes that make the plot become apparent. The climax... this was the conflict. Where every huge reveal is made. Where everything happens. Where the problems multiply and disputes and lies are brought out into the open. And finally there was the resolution. The ending. Where everything has been resolved, and there was a happy ending. But their story didn't have a resolution. It ended here, with them plummeting towards certain death. The midst of all the problems. Once everything that could have possibly gone wrong had.

Death.

Love.

But none of that mattered. Nothing did. They were together. And together they could do anything. Nothing could keep them apart. He removed one hand from her waist and tilted her head up. And then he kissed her. "I love you" he whispered.

"I love you too" she replied. And then she decided. They would get through this. They could do anything. Seaweed brain and wise girl. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Not two people, but more two halves of one whole.


	2. Chapter 2

**I wasn't originally going to write another chapter for this but I got bored so this is what happened...**

Her.

It was her who was keeping him sane. As they fell, on and on into the darkness. He grounded himself in the faint lemon scent of her hair. Picturing, though he couldn't see them, her grey eyes dancing as she looked at him mischievously. Her long wavy blonde hair. She looked straight at him. "We can get through this, Seaweed Brain. We always do."

In this rare instance, however, she was wrong. No one survived Tartarus. No one.

He buried his face in her hair, wanting this to be his last memory.

Her.

Them.

He thought about those he had left behind. The rest of the seven, standing grief stricken at the edge of the pit. His mother, crying. Thalia. Chiron. Clarisse. Will, Grover, Tyson. He thought about everyone who had died for him - directly or indirectly. Bianca, sacrificing herself for the good of the quest. Zoe, saving the world with her last breath. Ethan, righting his wrongs. Luke, dying a hero. And the others. Countless others, who he realised, embarrassed, he couldn't even remember. It was because of them he was here today. But then again, he thought darkly, he wasn't going to be there for long.

Them.

It.

He could feel it. It was all around them. It was the darkness, the dank air, the unbearable humidity. It was the reason they were going to die. It was pulling them down, down, down, down mercilessly into the darkest region of hell.

It had never met them. He doubted it even really knew who they were, and yet it was trying to kill him. All because of his fucked up family. He didn't usually curse, but it was bullshit. What had he ever done to end up in this place, being dragged into hell except be born to the wrong person at the wrong time. It scared him that this must have been exactly how Luke felt.

It

Him

His fault. It was all his fault. He should have been stronger. Faster. He could have cut the web, and failing that, he could have pulled her up. It was all his fault. Mea culpa. Mea culpa. Mea culpa. He said it over and over and over again in his head, faster and faster. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea culpa. My fault. She didn't deserve this. Gods, he didn't even deserve this. No one did. He thought of everyone he had let down over the years. Everything that had happened. Because of him. If he hadn't been born - if the oath had been kept - Kronos probably wouldn't have risen for years. All those people wouldn't have had to die. And then there's everyone he's let down over the years. Nico... gods Nico. He hoped he would be ok. It was all his fault. Everything was his fault. Mea culpa.

Mea culpa.

Mea culpa.

Him

They

But they could do anything. As long as they were together. Absolutely anything. Together, they were unstoppable. They were the ultimate team. He smiled to himself as they fell. Yes, they were going to die. But they were going to die together. And as long as they were together, anything could happen. So maybe, just maybe, they could survive this. It was a slim chance, yes - unbelievably so, in fact - maybe 1 in 200. But they might make it. They might make it to the other side to meet their friends. Just might. As long as they were together, anything was possible.

 **So... yeah. I might do some more chapters, maybe from the POV of some of the seven, but probably won't. You can go check out my other story - it's a sequel to BoO ( no ToO ) called Through the Darkness - if you want.**

 **Please review ;)**

 **-FeatheredShadows**


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